Wednesday, March 1, 2017

The Terrible Secret Chapter 2

Cory
hurried across the street for a better view, and Andi and the others followed. All
during her confrontation with Mrs. Evans, Andi had all but forgotten about Zeke.
He came swiftly back to the forefront of her mind as the saloon doors swung
open.

The
rumpled old man staggered backward through the doors and landed with a thump on
the boardwalk. Mr. Philip Barnes was right behind him. A crowd formed around the
two men.

“I
hated to do that, Zeke,” Mr. Barnes said,
shaking his head. He towered over Zeke. “But I’m only going to tell you one
more time to stop dogging me. The charges against your son are legal and will
stick. As district attorney, I have no choice but to go through with the
prosecution.”

Zeke
moaned and held his head. He’d clearly had too much to drink. “But—”

“I
suggest you get your son a good lawyer,” Mr. Barnes broke in. “And go about
this in a legal and civilized manner.” He hauled Zeke to his feet and steadied
him. “If you don’t leave me alone, I’ll have the sheriff arrest you on charges
of harassment and defamation of character.”

“Defamation
of character!” Zeke growled. “Now ain’t that some fancy words comin’ from a
fancy lawyer! What about Toby? What about his
character? All them charges against him are lies! Lies, I tell you!”

He
jabbed a fat finger into the lawyer’s chest. “You know I ain’t got money to
hire the kind of lawyer I need to get Toby free. This is just a sample of how
this hoity-toity town tries to get rid of people who they don’t think are as
good as themselves. Well, I got news for you, lawyer. I won’t be begging no more. Why I—”

“Cool
your heels, Zeke.” Sheriff Russell Tate broke through the old man’s ranting. He
pushed his way through the crowd and came face to face with the old man. “This
will all come out at the trial next week. Toby can tell his side then. No good
comes of riling folks up with foolish talk.”

The
sheriff addressed the crowd. “You all break it up. Go on about your business.”
His eyes narrowed. “You kids,” he barked. “What in tarnation are you doing
hanging around here? This is no place for you. Get out of here.”

A
chorus of “yes, sirs” erupted from the four young people. They scurried back to
the relative safety of Goodwin’s mercantile.

“Whoa,”
Jack managed in a low voice, “Zeke’s sure got it out for Mr. Barnes. What’s all
that stuff about Toby?”

“Who
knows?” Rachel shrugged. “Toby’s been in and out of trouble for years.”

“I
told you something fishy was going on with that old man,” Cory said.

“So
what?” Jack chirped up. “Zeke Blazer is sort of crazy, and drunk most of the
time. The whole town knows it. Why have you taken such an interest in him?”

Cory
shrugged. “I dunno. Old Zeke usually
keeps to himself, but lately—”

“That’s
true enough,” Jack said with a laugh. “When he’s not panhandling at my pa’s
store, he’s lying around in the alleys with his bottle.”

“Zeke
hasn’t been keeping to himself lately,” Cory said. “He’s been wandering around
the streets looking for work. He even showed up and asked Pa for a job.”

“Did
your pa give him one?” Andi asked, curious.

“For
a couple of days,” Cory replied, “but we don’t have much extra work.”

“It’s
not strange to me,” Andi said. “Zeke’s
looking for a job so he can hire himself a lawyer, I bet.” She shook her head. “But
like Sheriff Tate reminded us—it’s none of our business.”

Cory
turned to Andi. “Why don’t you ask your brother about Toby and his father? Justin
must know something.”

“He
probably knows more than something,” Andi agreed, “but whether he’ll tell me or
not is another question.”

“Aw,
it’s probably public knowledge.”

“What
does it matter, anyway?” Andi shrugged. “Toby’s going to trial for something,
his father’s mad about it, looking for work, and blaming the D.A. It gives the
town something to talk about. That’s all.”

“You’re
no fun.”

“I
know.” Andi grinned then gave in. “I’ll ask Justin, just for you, so you don’t
have to lose any sleep over not knowing.”

“Thanks,
Andi!” Cory winked at her and sprang off the boardwalk. I’ve got to get to the
livery.”

Andi
looked at the town clock. “Yikes! And I’ve got to get down to Justin’s. See you
all tomorrow.” She waved good-bye and scurried down the street for a ride home.

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About Andi

I'm the main character in 4 book series: Circle C Beginnings, Circle C Stepping Stones, Circle C Adventures, and Circle C Milestones. I live on a huge cattle and horse ranch in 1880 California. These are my adventures.